What's a Matt Rhule practice like? High energy with a quick pace

[Sir Purr]

Rhule dismissed the idea that he sets the tone himself, saying one of the reasons he likes to start practice with a competitive period is to get players' energy up. But he did credit his assistants for how they provide the juice needed for the players during individual drill instruction.


"I tell our coaches all the time, let's make sure that we are the energy that we want to see from the players. Let's make sure that we have the level of detail," Rhule said. "We're not rah-rah, high-fiving. We're coaching and giving details. So it's a matter of having great effort and having great details in coaching."


But given how strange this offseason and training camp has been, it makes sense that players and coaches would be energetic when they're on the grass. As Burris put it, practice is when things feel about as normal as they can during a pandemic.


Rhule shared a similar assessment.


"This is what we love to do," he said. "We sit here in meetings. We get in the building at 6 a.m. We're here until eight, nine o'clock at night. The one time we get to go have fun is practice. So we try to make practice fun, competitive, and tough all at the same time."


NEWS AND NOTES


— Wide receiver Keith Kirkwood has a clavicle injury, and according to Rhule, "will be out for several weeks."


— Tight end Temarrick Hemingway has a head injury and is day-to-day.


— Left tackle Russell Okung exited the field with a trainer during practice but is fine. He's been dealing with some lower-back tightness and went to work in the pool. Rhule said that was the plan for Okung, and will likely continue for the next few days.


— Moton, whose rookie contract expires after the season, said he's letting his agent handle any potential contract extension discussions with the Panthers front office.


"I have a lot of trust in my agent, and me jumping into that is like (saying) I don't trust what he's doing," Moton said. "I'm in camp, and that's what I'm worried about right now — day-in and day-out, the process of football."